ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE
BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
NCERT Class 9 English poem
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin’d,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
The Seven Ages Simple Summary in English
The scenes in a play are compared with seven ages in a man's life. A man performs seven unique roles on the worldly stage. His birth marks his entrance on the stage. The first stage is that of a newborn infant (crying baby) and vomiting in his mom's arms. The second stage is that of a school-going boy who is brilliant yet unhappy as he is forced to go to class. The third stage is that of a young fellow, a teenager (youngster) who is charmed towards a girl. He sings unhappy romantic songs in her praise. The fourth age is that of an angry and bold. Soldier. He is prepared to die on however needs to deify himself. The fifth stage is of a intelligent man who is an Judge. He is brimming with wisdom, advice and guidance. The following, 6th stage is that of an old man ( elderly person) who is laughed at by youths. His pants have loosened for himself as well as his voice is steadily becoming immature. The last, seventh stage is an infirm, incredibly elderly person. He is like a child, this is his second forgetfulness and he loses his teeth and vision. At last a man leaves the worldly stage upon his death.
